Graduation Season

Finishing the MFA and looking ahead

I graduated a little over a week ago with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. I knew the transition would feel strange, and so far, that has been true. Because I’m the type of person who likes to get in my feels and talk about it, I thought I’d spend some time reflecting at the start of this month’s newsletter.

First day mirror photo to graduation!

I’ve always loved school. I love learning, and in undergrad, I particularly enjoyed having a community of learners to connect with, people who were just as passionate about the material as I was. When I finished, I couldn’t imagine not going on to the next degree. I had so much hunger for the subject. Since I changed majors in my junior year, I felt like I needed more time to explore the world of writing before I was ready to decide exactly what I wanted to do (at that point, I still thought teaching was the only option for English majors). Starting the MFA was an easy choice. There were some bumps along the way to get there, but in my heart, I always knew it was something I needed to do for myself.

Over the three years it took to graduate, of course, there were moments of stress, moments when I wasn’t sure what my career would look like or how I would balance my finances while being in school. I picked up a part-time job in retail, filling in the gaps with some pet sitting gigs, and then, a year later, finally landed a job that aligned better with my career goals. I said yes to anything that would help me learn and grow in the field and pushed myself out of my comfort zone at every opportunity.

I taught four semesters of Foundations of Writing & Rhetoric and two semesters of Introduction to Creative Writing (one semester at the Minnesota Correctional Facility alongside one of my professors—what a cool and rewarding experience that was!). I wrote two book reviews for The Free Press in Mankato. I worked on our graduate-run literary magazine, Blue Earth Review, in several roles and got to experience the whole production process from piece selection to printing to distribution. This included being MC for our recent launch party (public speaking is one of my biggest fears, but it ended up being such a fun event). I read several pieces at Writer’s Bloc, a community reading event and got to share some thoughts on Good Thunder Pod. I attended AWP for three years in a row and pushed myself to connect with writers, publishers, and other bookish organizations. And of course, I wrote three drafts of a novel, took a bunch of great classes, and made some amazing friends along the way. Thank you to my professors, peers, and all the other people who made these past three years great.

Some memories from the past three years

I will admit that this past week has felt very strange. The last time I wasn’t a student was in that weird interim between undergrad and starting graduate school, but even then, I had applications out there and was actively working towards the next step in my education. I’m not used to having life stretch out in front of me with no new plans on the horizon. It is nice to have free time at the end of the day instead of needing to focus on schoolwork, but as someone who loves being busy and immersing myself in the writing life, it’s an odd sensation. I suppose I just have to remind myself that the craft and the writing still exist, even when I don’t have deadlines looming overhead. Anyway, let’s move on to the regularly scheduled content!

What I’ve been reading

This hasn’t been the most productive reading month (unsurprisingly, with finals and all the other events happening recently), but I have finished five books since I last wrote. I listened to the audiobook of Emily Henry’s newest release, Great Big Beautiful Life. It was my least favorite Emily Henry book so far, but it was still a fun read and got a solid 4/5 stars. I also started The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. It is a chunky book (over 800 pages!), so I have been putting it off while in school. Now that I have some more free time, though, I am excited to get to it. The worldbuilding is fascinating, and the multiple perspectives keep me flying through it.

What I’ve been writing

I started draft four of my novel! This past week, I’ve been reading through my previous draft and making some notes to myself. I think we’re past the big edits (chronology, big plot holes, backstory, major worldbuilding, etc), but there are a lot of sentence-level edits and lower-level concerns that will still need to be addressed in this draft.

Life stuff

Much of my free time lately has been spent with family and friends. I’ve been trying to get outside as much as possible with the gorgeous spring weather we’ve been having, and I even had a little picnic outside the other day.

I’ve been getting back into running with the goal of working back up to a comfortable 5K by mid-June and running a 10K in the early fall months. The summer months always hold such positive memories for me, and I’m looking forward to spending lots of time outside over the coming weeks!

On a different note, it’s been one year of Read, Write, Repeat! I can’t believe I started writing these little monthly updates over a year ago. Thank you for joining me, and if you aren’t subscribed yet, I’d love to have you along for the ride.